SHARING THE SHADOWS AND THE LIGHT

We are now discovering an even deeper meaning of this great teaching. Human suffering in our culture is based on a painful sense of separation, existential guilt, shame about who we are, a fundamental belief in our unworthiness to be loved, and embarrassment at our incompetence. Our lives are dedicated to concealing and compensating for these supposed inadequacies. We create a separation from others to protect this vulnerable place.

We also withhold our magnificence, our radiance. We are embarrassed by our enormous capacity for love. We fear that its expression would overwhelm people and be rejected.

In Ipsalu we practice energy-generating techniques to stir the subconscious sediment; we create a group space so safe, so nurturing, that even the darkest, most rejected belief or feeling can be brought to light and shared without fear of judgement; we are astonished to learn that nearly everyone else in the group was hiding the same shameful secrets. Compassion literally means "suffering with." When you realize that almost everyone is suffering the same way you are, the suffering magically disappears.There is no longer a need to hide behind masks, trying to be what you thought people want you to be. You "get it" that the separation, and the pain, was of your own creation, part of the illusion.